The Burden of Shoulder and Elbow Injuries in Wrestling: A Systematic Review of Incidence, Injury Types, and Competition-Level Comparisons.
Daniel J Maunder, Bradley C Nelson, Anand M Murthi et al.
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In 30 seconds
This Level 4 systematic review examined published injury data for competitive wrestlers to describe shoulder and elbow injury burden and weighted average injury rates (wIRs). Together, these injuries represented 21.2% of all wrestling injuries, with a combined wIR of 14.1 per 10,000 athlete-exposures (AEs). Shoulder injuries accounted for 14.1% of all injuries (wIR = 6.2 per 10,000 AEs), compared with 7.2% for elbow injuries (wIR = 4.1 per 10,000 AEs). Common injury categories included shoulder strains or sprains, shoulder instability, and elbow instability.
Key findings
- Shoulder and elbow injuries together made up 21.2% of wrestling injuries, with a wIR of 14.1 per 10,000 AEs.
- Shoulder injuries accounted for 14.1% of all injuries (wIR = 6.2 per 10,000 AEs); elbow injuries accounted for 7.2% (wIR = 4.1 per 10,000 AEs).
- Common injuries included shoulder strains/sprains (wIR = 4.2), shoulder instability (wIR = 2.5), and elbow instability, including ulnar collateral ligament injury (wIR = 1.8).
Why it matters
The review quantifies the contribution of shoulder and elbow injuries to wrestling injury burden and identifies recurring injury categories. This information can help clinicians caring for wrestlers recognize which joint problems are commonly represented in published injury data and provide context when assessing injury patterns in this sport.
What to keep in mind
The review’s estimates depend on the included studies and their injury data; the abstract does not report the number of studies or describe variation in their methods.